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Escalation on Solypsus 9

Yesterday concluded the map portion of our Solypsus 9 campaign! Fickle as they are foul, The Legions of Discord realized a losing battle when they saw one and quickly retreated from their beachhead gained last month. That left Spoilers and Order battling it out for control of the colony:

There are a few more photos in the gallery. Full results and missions are on the event webpage. Campaign mechanics are in the Solypsus 9 outline. Coming up next month is the conclusion of the series in an Apocalyptic mega-battle for the planet!

Master Apothecary Sauvon of the Kingbreakers singlehandedly holds back a flight of Necron Wraiths on their way to a key objective.

Solypsus 9

Apparently desperate for even the most meager source of biomass, months ago a Tyranid horde dropped on the small, forgotten, and largely barren Imperial outpost of Solypsus 9. Among the horde was a new Ork hybrid xenomorph assimilated in the course of earlier fighting throughout the sector. Caught off guard by this new threat and attack vector, Imperial forces rushing to defend the colony successfully shored up the major technical installations, reinforcing the Mine, Lab, Comms Tower, and Starport, but left the miserable population trapped within the Hab Blocks to be overrun and feasted upon.

Encouraged by this small blow to the Imperium, all manner of xenos then joined the fight, whether simply to revel in the bloodshed or for darker motivations. The significance of Solypsus 9 then shifted, as the Imperium continued reinforcing the planet rather than abandoning the fight or declaring it Exterminatus, while the Tyranid made good a new, purposeful assault on the Laboratory and knocked the defenders back to the Generator.

Intrigued by this deeper shading on the conflict, the Chaos gods finally sent their minions and champions to the conflict. Intense multi-faceted fighting between all three alliances splintered control for the colony, knocking the Spoilers out of all the major installations and the Legions of Discord securing a breachpoint on the planet among the Hab Blocks and Order regaining the Laboratory.

Finding nothing of interest to their unknowable minds, the major Discord forces were quickly redrawn by their overlords, but still the Order and Spoilers alliances battle on in an ever-escalating war for Solypsus 9…

Final disposition of armies and territories after the third event.

Battle

Fighting in the fourth phase of the campaign focused on the Mine and Lab:

First Round: Tyranid moved on the Mine from the desert and crushed the just-arrived Grey Knights to gain a defensible position. Kingbreakers counter-attacked in the desert, but were intercepted and soundly beaten by Necrons and mind-controlled Tau. Dark Eldar went to investigate why the Tyranid and Imperium have shown so much interest in the Lab, but were blocked by Skitarii and a Mechanicus reclamation team, their sudden appearance yet another sign of the colony’s hidden significance. Sanguine Hunters and Necrons both besieged the Hab Blocks, with the Blood Angels successors displacing Discord defenders as well as prevailing over the automatons.

Second Round: Tyranid violently tore through the Skitarii to regain the Laboratory. Sanguine Hunters attempted to reclaim the Mine, but were ensnared en route by Dark Eldar raiders. Necrons marched on the Starport and obliterated the defending Kingbreakers. Grey Knights and Necrons fought over the Comms Tower, but Order maintained control.

Third Round: Vengeful Kingbreakers counter-attacked the core of the Tyranid campaign at the Laboratory and regained the facility in a swirling maelstrom of ground-to-air combat. Grey Knights attacked the Mine but Dark Eldar raiders once again swept in to cut and shatter the thrust en route. Necrons decisively defended their hold on the Starport against the Sanguine Hunters. At the Comms Tower, heavily augmented Skitarii waged a chillingly brutal yet ultimately bloodless combat with the fully automated Necron and won the field.

Tyranid swarm over ground defenders far below.

The Knight Errant Greenheart fights Necron among the colony’s installations.

Kingbreakers march to fight the Tyranid over ground already corrupted by Chaos’ brief occupation.

Outcome

Spoilers won the first round of the day significantly, more than doubled out Order in the second round, but lost significantly in the third round due to a couple Order players securing both massacres and their covert missions. The horde though still carried the day, 173 to 134, and closed the gap toward Order’s tally. That puts the total victory points earned at:

Order: 123 + 179 + 76 + 134 = 512 victory points

Spoilers: 110 + 140 + 66 + 173= 489 victory points

Discord: 114 victory points

Despite the Skitarii leadership’s strenuous and ominous exhortations for Order to make sure it has a way to get off the planet, the Spoilers took hold of the Starport in addition to the mine. Order regained the Laboratory and the remains of the Hab Blocks, and continues to hold the Comms Tower and Generator. Both alliances achieved their chosen strategic objective for the day: Spoilers for the Mine, and Order for the Laboratory. That puts the total campaign points earned at:

Order: 5 + 5 + 12 + 14= 36 campaign points

Spoilers: 1 + 4 + 0 + 9 = 14 campaign points

Discord: 6 campaign points

All told, Spoilers and Order have waged a closely fought tactical war, with just 23 victory points separating them. But Order has managed to largely defend and control the colony from the onslaught. They’ll be hard pressed to defend all those installations though when the world is thrown into Apocalypse!

Disposition of Solypsus 9 after the fourth event.

Revelation Is At Hand

Next month our Solypsus 9 campaign will conclude with an epic mega-battle as the Apocalypse arrives and the alliances battle it out for final control of the colony’s installations. Stay tuned for details, as there will be a fair amount of coordinating beforehand to ensure a fun, strategic game for everybody.

First Sergeant Scolirus subtly flexed the fingers of his powerfist impatiently as the Skitarii in front of him chittered away. He had no idea what it was trying to convey and didn’t much care for their heavily augmented kind, despite or perhaps because of the bionic reconstruction throughout the left half of his face. Moments from pushing it off and walking away though, he suddenly somehow understood the smallest part of the message. The Mine. There was something important in the Mine? The Skitarii shook its head and blatted out its techna-lingua at an even more frantic pace. Finally Scolirus got the message. Not something, but someone…